1993 Ford Mustang - Orange Soul

Jorge Ferrero and MAK Performance built a street/strip Fox Rod with the soul of a Terminator

The things our friends will get us into. Jorge "Kiko" Ferrero of Hialeah Gardens, Florida, was heading down a standard path with his Fox coupe project. His last Pony was a silver '85 Mustang GT, and it was as traditional a hot rod as you could get-carburetor, pushrods, and so on. He was contemplating going with a big Windsor in his '93 coupe-and then he started hanging with the '03-'04 Cobra crowd. Suddenly Jorge viewed pushrod engines as a thing of the past and modulars were the only way to fly.

Of course, his friend Willy Diaz at Jorge's performance shop of choice, MAK Performance, was there to help him along. Willy's words went something like this: "Sure those Cobras are fast. Yeah-a pulley and a tune and you're flying. But, what if you put that combination in a coupe? When you lose all the weight, the car will be quicker." Since Jorge's primary goal was to outpace all his Cobra buddies and be able to spank any Chevy in sight, Willy was singing his tune, and the Terminator Fox project was in full swing.

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Jorge and a pal at his BMW dealership gig painted the car, and the results were up to Jorge's meticulous standards. As he began putting the project together, Jorge was just a customer at MAK and he kept stopping by to purchase parts and get advice. Eventually his car turned into a shop project, with Willy offering to help, and that led to Willy hiring Jorge at MAK. While at the shop, Jorge, Willy, and Lewdy Toledo spent many late nights assembling the car. It took about 12 months-the last 9 of which Jorge spent working at MAK-to wrap it up, and they were still putting the finishing touches on the car when we showed up with the cameras.

Jorge drove the car to our sunset photo locale, where we ran into some serious rush-hour traffic, and before meeting us back at the shop for a nighttime burnout shot, he took a detour and picked up his son. So you know this car is streetable, but it's obvious-because of the Weld wheels and Mickey Thompson drag radials-it has some quarter-mile intentions. As with most projects, it's still evolving, and it's become quick enough that Jorge is ready to make the leap to a full-on race car. The six-speed is coming out and a race-prepped C4 is going in.

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Once he starts hanging out at the track, there's no telling what his new friends will talk him into. One thing's for sure-it won't have anything to do with pushrods or Bow Ties. Jorge Ferrero's Fox is performance heaven, thanks to its modular soul-and that's just the way he likes it.